It was 10:30 in the night and as usual i was hungry... generally i go to kitchen and get a big bowl of cereal for myself. Today i felt like having something nice yet healthy so i can go off to sleep without guilt.... i get those guilts when i indulge myself into a rich dessert and i skip desserts for next 10 days :D
i took a good look into my refrigerator and i saw fresh Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries waiting for me ..... and i got an idea to use all of them with Yoghurt and cereal... I know this is a very common recipe but guys what if someone who is unaware of comes and read this blog - i will help one soul satisfy his hunger in a better way - so here it goes.....
Ingredients:
Handful of Strawberries (chopped), Blueberries and Blackberries
2 tbspn - Plain Yoghurt ( i had Low fat - that made me feel good)
handful of your fav cereal ( i had Kelloggs oat & honey)
Method:
1] Mix all the berries in a bowl.
2] Add Yoghurt on top of it.
3] Sprinkle your fav cereal
That's it - Enjoy your guilt-free, healthy and yet Yummy dessert...
I simply enjoyed it and wanted more and more :)
Today was one of those days when i was motivated to bake something different and which i have never tried - trust me the list is big enough.... But i had this urge of making Pizza base at home and it came out really well... So guys next time you want to eat pizza you know whom to call for it :) trust me its easy....
Ingredients:
Pizza base- (this proportion makes one pizza base)
1/4 tspn - Active Dry yeast
1/8 tspn - Sugar
1/8 tspn - Salt
3/4 tspn - Olive Oil
3 tbspn - Warm Water
1/4 cup - Whole Wheat flour ( or All-purpose flour)
Pizza Sauce-
1 - ripe tomato
1 tspn - dried Oregano
1 tspn - dried Basil
Salt as per taste
1 - Garlic bud (finely chopped)
Toppings-
Capsicum - chopped
Olives - sliced
Onions - chopped
Cheese - as per requirement
(you can add as many toppings you want)
Method:
Pizza base-
1] In a medium size bowl, dissolve dry yeast and sugar in warm water. Set aside for 10 mins.
2] Into this add salt and olive oil.
3] Add flour to this mixture and start making a dough out of it. Knead till the dough is not sticky.
4] Apply some oil on a separate bowl on the sides and place the dough in that. Cover the bowl with a cloth. Keep aside for 1 hr atleast untouched.
5] After 1 hr, you should see the dough doubles in size. Take the dough and roll it with rolling pin and give a desired shape (generally round or square).
Your Pizza base is ready :)
Pizza Sauce-
1] Make tomato puree (simply churn tomato in a mixer and take it out in a bowl).
2] Add Oregano, basil, salt and Garlic.
3] Spread it on the pizza base evenly.
Final Assembly-
1] Add all the desired toppings on the pizza base having sauce on it.
2] Pre-heat the oven at 425 degrees F. Put the pizza base on the pizza pan / cookie sheet / flat baking pan and Bake for 8-10 mins. You will see the base is cooked.
3] Broil/grill the pizza for 1-2 mins or till the cheese becomes slightly brown.
Your Hot Pizza is ready to eat.
We loved this pizza and have decided to make it again with different toppings.
I made it of whole wheat and didn't add too much of oil or cheese - so its Healthy yet delicious....
So guys next time you want to eat Pizza you know where to call ;)
Enjoy!!!
It was Friday (not the 13th) but 14th Jan :) and i was invited for my friend cum neighbor Rhonda's birthday party. Everyone who was invited was getting something to eat and as Rhonda loves Indian cuisine i thought of making chicken tikka and believe me everyone just loved it..... There was lots of food including Apple pie, wheat salad, crackers, pumpkin pie, lentils & kielbasa stew, chips and not to forget the birthday cake... and ofcourse my chicken tikka :)
Ingredients:
Chicken Marinade-
1.5 lbs - Chicken (make medium size pieces)
3 tbspns - Dahi (plain yoghurt)
2 tspns - Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tspn - Red chilli powder (can add more if you are a spicy eater)
salt - as per taste
1 tspn - turmeric powder
1-2 tspns - Tandoori Chicken masala (can add more if you are a spicy eater)
Other-
8-10 wooden skewers (dip them in water atleast 1 hour before grilling)
Flat pan for grilling / baking
Method:
1] In a container, mix all the ingredients mentioned under Chicken marinade and set aside for 3-4 hrs.
2] Preheat the oven at 400 degrees F
3] Arrange marinated chicken pieces on the skewers and place them on the Flat baking pan. Bake for 12-15 mins or till the chicken is tender and turns golden brown.
4] Broil for 3-5 mins. Turn the skewers so all sides of chicken are broiled.
5] Enjoy these tikkas with Mint chutney/dip
Mint chutney recipe:
Ingredients:
4-5 tbspns - Plain Yoghurt (Dahi)
2-3 tspns - Mint concentrate (easily available in Indian stores)
Salt - as per taste
1 tspn - Sugar
1/2 tspn - Chat masala
Method:
1] Mix all the ingredients in a container and your Mint Chutney / Dip is ready
Enjoy this recipe as appetizer or hog them and skip a meal.
I haven't seen anyone who doesn't like his mom's food... we are brought up with those aromas and learn to love them with a dash of mum's love.... My mom is a very good cook though if told to her she will not acknowledge.... but according to me she certainly is and her best dish is Chicken curry... me and my brother use to hog when mum use to make this dish. It use to be planned well in advance and generally on Sundays. My mom is a doctor but a teacher in medical college and use to be very busy on weekdays.... So sunday use to be our feast and we were never bored of her chicken curry... i miss those sundays but she still makes it for my brother and dad and i'm so jealous of that fact....Even if Gordon ramsay cooks chicken curry for me - that won't be special the way my mom's chicken curry is to me.. nobody on this earth can match it.... That's the bonding i guess but i truly believe in this :)
I still remember when i was studying Engineering i had few friends from Delhi who use to be home-sick and use to crave for home-made food....so i use to request my mom to cook some extra chicken for them.... I use to take a big container of chicken for my dear friends... it use to be fun watching them fight over it... they use to bunk classes to eat it as if it stays in the classroom everyone will be after it .... One of my very good friend Jaspal use to take it to hostel giving a reason that he is just dumping the box and coming back...but infact he use to go and finish it off completely :D :D and my other friend Vishnu always use to be the one who use to satisfy his craving by licking the sides of the container as he never use to bunk..... Ahhh !!! i miss them :)
and i miss my mum's chicken curry so i try to make it whenever i can ... but i can't match her taste to be frank ... but here is the recipe which she keeps telling me....
I made this for the New year potluck party this time and many liked it ...
Here goes the recipe -
Ingredients:
Chicken marinade-
2 lbs - Chicken
2 tbspn - Plain Yoghurt
1 tspn - Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tspn - Turmeric powder
2 tspn - Tandoori chicken masala
1/2 tspn - salt
Gravy -
3 - White Onions - large size ( If you are in India then you might require 6-7 onions as size is comparatively small) - cut into large pieces
1 - Tomato - cut into large pieces
Fenugreek leaves ("Methi") - handful
Coriander leaves - handful
5 tbspn - Oil
1 tspn - Ginger-garlic paste
1 tspn - turmeric powder
2 tspn - Tandoori chicken masala
2 tspn - Red chilli powder
Salt as per taste
1/4 cup - milk cream or butter
Garam Masala mixture-
1 tspn - Coriander seeds
2-3 - Black pepper
1-2 - Bay leaves
1-2 - Star anise
1-2 - Cloves
1-2 - Cinnamon
1-2 - Elaichi
1 tspn - Cumin seeds
Method:
Chicken Marinade-
1] In a container, Add chicken pieces, yoghurt, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, tandoori chicken masala and salt.
2] Mix well and keep it aside for atleast 3 hrs. You can also keep it overnight in refrigerator.
Gravy-
1] In a mixer, add onions, fenugreek leaves and coriander leaves. Chop them fine like a paste by adding very less water. This will look slightly green.
2] In a pan add oil. Add Garam masala mixture and saute for half a min. To this add the Ginger-Garlic paste and Onion paste. Cook the onions till it starts leaving oil. This may take lot of time but believe me its worth the taste.
3] Make tomato puree in mixer and add to the pan. Let it cook for 10 mins. You will see the paste and oil is separated nicely. This is a indication of cooked paste.
4] Add salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and tandoori chicken masala and saute for a min.
5] Add marinated chicken to this. Close the lid and let it cook for 10 mins. You will notice chicken starts leaving water and becomes tender. Don't add water it spoils the taste. Let it cook in masala till chicken is soft and tender.
6] Add milk cream or butter and let it simmer for another 5 mins. If you think gravy is too thick then add some Hot water. Taste it. Add extra salt or red chilli powder if you are a spicy eater.
7] Let this simmer for 10 mins and your chicken curry is ready. Garnish with Coriander leaves.
Enjoy this with hot parathas or rotis or rice.
My family loves Mexican food ... we had been to one of our fav Mexican joint here "Sol Azteca" .... and my fav is Spinach Quesadillas ...
I have this habit of analysing the ingredients while eating..... i'm not a food critic but i like guessing ingredients while eating - that helps me in not referring to the recipes when i cook.... So last time when i was enjoying my Spinach Quesadillas my mind was working on what all has gone inside .. i opened it couple of times to see what's in there - thats stupid to do i know but i desperately wanted to know what am i eating..... so i can cook at home.... and i was successful ... its easy !!!
Every 2 weeks we have started visiting Farmers market in Raleigh with one of our friends... I love going there as it gives me a feeling of "sabji-mandi" in India... except you get different variety of vegetables and the ones which are common between India and US - sizes here are larger.... Farmers market has all the organic vegetables and fruits at a reasonable price which kind of attracts me....So when we went there this time .... i couldn't go and buy the vegetables as my lil one was in deep sleep in his car seat... kids look so sweet when they sleep and i didn't want to wake him up... so asked Aditya to go and buy..... When he was back he happily showed me 3lbs of Spinach... and i was wondering what am i gonna do with so much Spinach... we love spinach but 3 lbs is way too extra.... but i figured out a way to store them fresh in my freezer so they last long.... that gives me a chance of having a Spinach week... So i made my fav Spinach Quesadillas.... and we loved it....
Ingredients:
2 cups - Spinach leaves - chopped
1/2 cup - Corn kernels (frozen)
1/4 cup - Onions - chopped
1 tspn - Oil
1 tspn - Chilli flakes
Salt as per taste
1/2 cup - Mozarella cheese ( less or more, the way u want)
2 - Soft Tacos - readily available in market, i generally buy whole wheat ( if you are unable to find these, just make thin whole wheat chapatis)
Method:
1] In a pan add oil. To this add Onion and let it cook. Add Spinach leaves and corn.
Close the lid and let the Spinach cook.
2] Add salt, chilli flakes to the mixture and let it cook without lid so the water in the Spinach is evaporated. Once cooked keep aside.
3] Take a pan and let one side of taco cook. Turn it and now place the above Spinach mixture in one half of it. Sprinkle some cheese.Then fold the Taco as shown in the pic above.
4] Let the Taco cook and be crispy. Turn the side of the Taco and let it become Crispy.
Enjoy it !!!!
Its very easy to make and tastes amazing.
Chinese bole to manchurian !!! I had been to "Around the world market" (indian store here) where i picked up Ching's Manchurian sauce and luckily i had most of the vegetables needed for it.. so thought of giving it a try and came out pretty well.. This dish compliments very well with steamed rice...
Ingredients:
2-3 tbspn - Ching's Manchurian sauce (can be found easily in any indian store)
1/2 cup - water
1 - capsicum - chopped
2 - carrots - chopped
1 cup - Cabbage - finely chopped
1 tbspn - Ginger - peeled and chopped
1/4 cup - corn kernels
1 cup - Spring onions (green onions) - chopped
salt as per taste
1 tspn - Olive oil
Method:
1] In a pan, add Olive oil. To this add all the veggies. Saute them nicely for a min.
2] Add Manchurian sauce and water to this. Add salt.
3] Close the lid and let it cook for 5 mins or till the veggies are cooked. If needed, add more water.
Enjoy this with hot steamed rice.. it tastes amazing!!!
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